Page 69 - Mediterraneo e dintorni - 2-2020

oN FeBrUary 28, 1953 the SeNSatioNaL the laboratory of molecular biologist Maurice Wilkins. Para-
diSCoVery oF the StrUCtUre oF dNa doxically, however, Rosalind Franklin - who died at the age of
38 in 1958 - did not receive any recognition, while Watson,
lmost seven decades have passed since the discovery of the Crick and Wilkins first obtained the Lasker Prize and in 1962
A“secret of life” but genomics continues to offer important the Nobel Prize for Medicine. However, the discovery of the
areas to explore within the biological discipline. On February chemical structure of DNA (the DNA molecule was discove-
28, 1953 the thirty-five year old British physicist Francis Cri- red almost a century earlier, in 1969, by the Swiss physician
ck yelled at England that he had made it, that he had deco- Johann Friedrich Miescher!) represented a fundamental wa-
ded, together with the American biologist James Watson, just tershed in science, opening hitherto unimaginable perspecti-
twenty-three years old, the structure of the DNA molecule. ves. But if this represents the past of genetics, the future is
On April 25 of the same year, the journal Nature published certainly oriented towards personalized medicine. Luigi Boc-
the scientific article in which the double helix structure mo- cuto, associate professor at “Clemson University” in South
del discovered at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge was Carolina (USA) and researcher of the “Greenwood Genetic
presented, which earned them the Nobel Prize. The discovery Center” explained it to us: «Since the discovery made by Wa-
was sensational because it composed a puzzle of intuitions tson and Crick, the researchers’ expectations have been partly
formulated in various areas of the research, one of all that of respected because there is a greater access to genetic research
Rosalind Franklin who generated an X-ray image that for the that concerns rare diseases but also predisposition situations,
first time had a double helix structure hypothesized. And it is which is why today we can speak not only of genetic determi-
precisely this brilliant young London biochemist who actual- nism but of predisposing factors of a genetic nature. This in-
ly owes the decisive passage in the discovery, thanks to her creased knowledge, which has grown over the years thanks to
work based on DNA X-ray diffraction images, carried out in the release of the data of the “Human Genome” project, has al-

Friedrich Miescher Maurice Wilkins Rosalind Franklin - ph MRC Laboratory
of Molecular Biology

laboratorio del biologo moleco- aprendo prospettive fino ad allo-
lare Maurice Wilkins. Paradossal- ra inimmaginabili. Ma se questo
mente, però, Rosalind Franklin – rappresenta il passato della gene-
morta a soli 38 anni nel 1958 – non tica, il futuro è sicuramente orien-
ricevette alcun riconoscimento, tato verso la medicina personaliz-
mentre Watson, Crick e Wilkins zata cioè tagliata su misura per un
ottennero dapprima il Premio determinato paziente in base alla
Lasker conferito nell’agosto del risposta a determinati farmaci e
1960 e, dopo due anni, il Premio in funzione di tanti altri elementi.
Nobel per la Medicina. Comun- È un futuro dinamico funzionale
que sia, la scoperta della struttura focalizzato sull’integrazione dei
chimica del DNA (la molecola del dati che provengono dagli studi
DNA fu scoperta quasi un secolo scientifici con il percorso “from
il passaggio dirimente nella sco- prima, nel 1969, dal medico sviz- bench to bedside”, dal bancone di
perta, grazie al suo lavoro basato zero Johann Friedrich Miescher!) laboratorio al comodino, cioè alla
sulle immagini di diffrazione ai ha rappresentato uno spartiac- possibilità di fornire nella prati-
raggi X del DNA, effettuato nel que fondamentale nella scienza, ca medica informazioni in gra-

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